book reviews and recommendations

Month: July 2016

What She Reads Blog has a special surprise today! Thanks to Barclay publicity myself and many bloggers through out the web have the chance to bring this special FIRST look at Chelsey Krause’s new title All Shook Up to your eyes!

“Friends become lovers over a whirlwind summer of rockabilly rhythms, twirling skirts, and a mystery that takes them hilariously far out of their element in this humorous and heartwarming romantic comedy!” If that doesn’t have you excited for this new release don’t worry! There’s more where that came from.

Allow me to introduce to you an inside look at this fabulous, heartwarming, and all together genius romantic comedy.

Natalie’s world is shaken to its core when she discovers an old photo of a woman who looks like her. Could this woman be related to her birth mother, who put Natalie up for adoption as a baby? When she tracks down the person who dumped the photo album at her thrift shop, she’s shaken again. Especially when the gorgeous fire-fighting guitarist offers to help her find the owner. They quickly become friends – which is all they’ll be, as far as Natalie’s concerned. Her rebellious youth turned her off cheating men, and the new Natalie is looking for true love and a family of her own – something Casey isn’t willing to provide. But how long can Natalie ignore her undeniable attraction to the man with the Irish accent and the broken-down ’57 Chevy?

In Chelsey Krause’s second novel, friends become lovers over a whirlwind summer of rockabilly rhythms, twirling skirts, and a mystery that takes them hilariously far out of their element.

I stare up at the house for a moment, my hands shaking on the steering wheel, wondering what I’ve got myself into. I do some breathing exercises to calm down, pick up the box, and get out of the car. I can barely stand, my legs are so wobbly.

Maybe I’m working myself up over nothing. So what if the woman in the picture looks like me? It could be a coincidence.

Or maybe, just maybe…

I walk slowly up the driveway and knock on the door, my heart racing. After a couple of minutes, I knock again. Maybe they aren’t home? Maybe they didn’t hear me? I try the doorbell.

After a minute, I hear heavy, muffled footsteps.

Oh god. I should have worn a better outfit. I quickly smooth my hair with my free hand and stand a bit taller. Am I going to meet my birth mother? Or, at the very least, an aunt or something? Or my grandmother? Although, if someone cared enough to take these pictures and put them in an album, why would they throw them away? Is that the sort of person I want to meet?

The door swings open. The person standing in front of me is most definitely not a granny.

“Can I help you?” he asks as he rubs his eyes.

“Oh, I, umm…”

My brain has stalled.

He shouldn’t be the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. But for some reason, he is. He looks like he’s in his late twenties, maybe early thirties. He isn’t wearing anything that spectacular, just a plain T-shirt and fleece pants. And his dark eyebrows are a bit thick for my liking.

But those lips…thin on top, full on the bottom, framed by a cleft chin and dark stubble. And those brown eyes fringed with black lashes…

He blinks. “Okay, then. Well, if that’s all…” He starts to close the door.

“Does this belong to you?” I yelp. I shove the box into his chest. He takes a half step back and sneezes as the dust flies up around him.

He frowns. “Is this the crap I took to the thrift store?” With a confused look on his face, he hands the box back to me and crosses his arms. He leans on the door frame, making his biceps strain against his T-shirt. His entire left arm is covered in swirling blue and green tattoos. “How did you find where I live?” he asks cautiously. He has a hint of an accent. Scottish, maybe?

I roll my eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself, I’m not stalking you.”

He smirks. “Good. I’ve already got too many stalkers.”

About Chelsey Krause

Chelsey Krause has a thing for thrift stores and used bookshops. A nurse, wife, Starbucks addict, and mom to two children, she can often be found repurposing other people’s junk or considering whether the library would let her move in. The rest of the time, she’s reviewing for Chicklit Club or writing. All Shook Up is her second novel.

Also I would love to give a special thanks to Barclay Publicity for allowing me to be a part of this promotion!

Last but not least!

Rafflecopter for All Shook Up First Look Celebration Giveaway:

Tryst Books is offering one (1) lucky grand prize winner a paperback set containing the following titles: All Shook Up, Sweet Bliss, Drawn Through You, Ms. Conception, & Lessons in Pure Life and ten (10) runner-ups will win an eBook copy of their choice from the Tryst Books publishing catalogue! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below:

If you haven’t already read this book or any of the other books from Mary Ting’s Descendant Prophecies series you are surely missing out!

I do not just ask this of you but I beg you guys to give it a chance. It has got to be one the most enthralling books I’ve read in a while. It was so refreshing to finally read something caught my attention and kept it for so long.

This book gave me a little of a Percy Jackson feel. Funny because I’ve never read those books just watched the movies.

Mary Ting totally crushed it. If you like anything pertaining to mythology… You will love this series.

Review: To Trust a Wolf really made it hard for me to write this review. I’ll tell you why. Helen Jurist is an archivist who works in a museum. Rune Helsen is a donor who at first Helen is not fond of because he pays he ways into an exhibit that should be off limits for the time being.

Now, this story was short. An when I say short I mean very very short. The beginning of the story wasn’t exactly attention catching but I will say that it’s not the case for the whole read. Once Rune is introduced the story line becomes alive.

Obviously because this is a paranormal romance we can deduce that someone here has a secret and that someone is Rune. He’s tall, dark and wolfishly handsome… see what I did there ;)?

The story is so short that I can’t say much without giving the whole thing away. Overall I just wish there was more to the story. The ending killed me. Why? Because I was finally getting in to the book and BAM it was over. It felt more like an introduction to a story than a whole story. If that makes sense? I will say that Danielle has an amazing plot here and I know that if she continues the book or makes it in to a saga she’s got a killer series right in the palm of her hands.

I wish her the best of luck and I hope that her next story really knocks this out of the park! While it was a short read I could feel the potential simmering beneath.

Author: Stephanie WitterPublication Date: May 3rd 2016Publisher: Stephanie WitterGenre: RomanceSource: I requested and received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Okay I don’t know about ya’ll but I’m a sucker for the whole bad ass rockstar boyfriend thing. Seriously I love it. I love to see a man involved in the rockstar lifestyle fall for a woman who changes his whole crazy word upside down… and accidentally make it up side right?? If you catch my drift.

Dex is a part and the lead singer of Kinky Shine. He meets Harley on a bad day because he has to do an interview with her for her blog… being a rockstar and all of course he hates that stuff. However, it turns out that Harley is more than just some small time blogger. Not only does she have a degree in communications, a blog with 500 thousand+ followers her father also happens to be the manager of Kinky Shine.

“Tell me something,” he said slowly, his eyes taking in every inch of my face thoroughly before he eyed my conservative looking top and went back to my eyes mostly hidden by my ugly-ass fake glasses. “Who’re you fucking?”

I blinked. “Huh?”

He smirked at me, the left side of his mouth curving upward, carving in his cheek a very sexy dimple.

Yes ladies and gents you read that excerpt correctly. That is literally Dex’s first encounter with Harley. Of course once he realizes who her father is and realizes that she’s not a groupie who made her way to the top by opening her legs he feels like a complete ass. Harley can’t seem to forget the grumpy, douchebag, and totally sexy rockstar and Dex can’t seem to forget the only woman who has made his insides stir in a long time.

This story had it’s parts where I thought it was a tad cheesy maybe even rushed..but I’ll tell you what… I liked it. Dex was sexy, mysterious and dangerous but he loved Harley more than anything. Harley was an innocent compared to her rockstar man but that didn’t stop her from diving head first in to their relationship. A relationship that was filled with doubt, trust issues and complications from Dex’s famous lifestyle.

How can a man and a woman from two separate worlds last the battle field of love while also dealing with a band that’s falling apart, a grungy lead singer who has more trust issues than he can count and a young girl who can’t seem to care even when her heart is on the line? Pick up this book and find out.

I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars due to some parts that I found weren’t 100% believable. This may be different for everyone.